At last - Vindication!

I have mentioned before http://julianh72.blogspot.com/2011/11/printing-without-computer-well-sort-of.html that while my kids think my RepRap Prusa Mendel is pretty cool, my "Significant Other" finds my whole RepRap obsession bemusing, to say the least. (But at least she knows where to find me - and it's not down at the pub!) She has been challenging me to "make something useful".

Well, last night, I did just that - and even she acknowledges it! Having returned from our holiday, our first action was to make good on our promise for the kids' Christmas present - we picked up a new Burmese kitten that we had chosen just before going away. Now, everyone knows that kittens like to play, and sometimes the best toys are things they just find lying around (ping pong balls, bits of string, the toilet roll hanging on the wall holder, etc). However, the opportunity to make a bespoke kitten toy was just too alluring.

A quick search for "cat toy" on Thingiverse turned up a few options: http://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=cat+toy&sa=Search

In particular, the "Mesh Ball in a Mesh Ball" looked like a great toy - and a great test of my RepRap's capabilities as well: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3493

So, I downloaded the stl file, and set it to print. A few hours later I had a really good model - and the cat loves it - it's just the right size and shape for a kitten to hook its paws in, and it makes a very pleasing rattle as it rolls around.

Happy New Year, everybody - and Happy RepRapping for 2012! May all your prints be awesome!